I’m the West Coast representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. I was a political columnist for SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle online) from 2004-2008. I've written for the Algemeiner, Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Independent Journal Review, American Thinker, FrontPage Magazine, Jihad Watch, Family Security Matters, Accuracy In Media, Newsbusters, Israel National News, Jewish Press, J-The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, and many others.

Monday, May 19, 2008

25-Year-Old Saudi Woman Blogger and Social Critic Dies "Unexpectedly"

Via the Arab News, we learn that Alhodaif "unexpectedly" fell into a coma and 25-days later, simply "passed away." But considering her legacy of activism, both within the blogosphere and without, and the fact that she insisted on blogging under her real name, it's more likely she was targeted for death by Saudi authorities. That she was a proponent of women's rights in this most backward of nations (and regions) is even more reason the enemies of progress would want her out of the way.

Alhodaif, who maintained “Heaven’s Steps” (http://hdeel.ws/blog), often challenged other Saudi women to join her in stepping out of the shadows of anonymity and devote their writing to issues of social importance.

“I wish that Saudi women bloggers would step forward in their writing instead of simply writing their personal diaries,” she told Arab News in an interview last year. She said that blogging offered a unique opportunity in Saudi Arabia to create a “new free media” to face off against the entrenched establishment newspapers and television channels and give the public what they really wanted to know. In some cases she would appear in these media outlets, such as AlJazeera and Saudi Channel One.

Alhodaif was invited last year to Oman’s Sultan Qaboos University to discuss the role that Saudi blogs play in promoting the freedom of expression. Later that year she gave a lecture at the women’s section of the Riyadh Literary Club calling on women to start their own blogs to help influence public policy and opinion.

“I would like to educate Saudi women about the importance of blogging as an efficient medium that can greatly influence public opinion,” she said during her presentation.

When blogger Fouad Al-Farhan was detained late last year for openly defending a group of conservative academics that had been arrested for meeting and discussing the need for political reform, Alhodaif was the only Saudi woman who came out publicly calling for Al-Farhan’s immediate release. She started a “Free Fouad” website and created a forum on the social networking site Facebook to keep interested people up to date on the case.

“She was truly courageous speaking to the BBC Arabic eloquently and bravely about Al-Farhan’s detention when most Saudi bloggers wanted only to be quoted anonymously,” said a fellow blogger, who preferred to be quoted anonymously.

Al-Farhan was released last month after four months of detention without charges.

Alhodaif published a collection of short stories titled “Their Shadows Don’t Follow Them.” Last year her play “Who Fears The Doors” was performed at the men’s section of King Saud University. In her blog Alhodaif mocked the fact that even as the playwright she was not allowed to attend the performance of her own work due to the university’s strict policy on the mingling of the sexes.

“I guess I have to beg the male audience to inform me how my play was produced,” she wrote in Arabic. “I hope that a day comes when I can attend a cultural function where the presence of women does not cause anyone an allergic reaction!”

Alhodaif’s Facebook profile shows a young woman who was interested in reading, writing and good food. Saudis from all ages and backgrounds — liberals and conservatives alike, those who knew her closely or from a distance, and even those who did not know her at all before — are mourning the bright skinny girl with high dreams and hopes of a better future for all Saudis.

All except the Saudi Royal Family and its Wahhabist cohorts, no doubt.

Whatever its cause, Alhodaif's tragic death demonstrates why the U.S., and the West as a whole, needs to lend its support to such voices of liberalism (in the true sense of the word) in the Muslim world. Just as we supported dissidents behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, today's conflict with radical Islam requires no less.

Update (5/20): Speaking of supporting Muslim dissidents, the New York Timesreports on blogger and housewife Jane Novak's one-woman crusade to save the life of persecuted Yemeni journalist Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani. Al-Khaiwani is in prison and may face the death penalty merely for reporting on the Houthi rebellion in Northern Yemen. Novak's blog, Armies of Liberation, focuses on Yemeni affairs and her petition on behalf of al-Khaiwani can be signed here.

Update (5/23): A reader suggested via the comments section on this thread that Alhodaif's death could have been the result of an honor killing. It's difficult to know for sure under the circumstances, but that's certainly a possibility, especially considering the "dishonor" her family members may have felt due to Alhodaif's activism. As I wrote earlier, there's definitely something fishy about this case...

It's truely a sadder world without of Hadeel Alhodaif. This bright optimistic young woman who courageously challenged archaic and outdated modes of thought and sought liberty of expression for her fellow female Saudi populace should have been honored more while amongst the living. Thank you for letting the world know of this tragic loss which occured in such a suspicious way under Saudi rule Cinnamon.

An honor killing is a murder, nearly exclusively of a woman, who has been perceived as having brought dishonor to her family. Such killings are typically perpetrated by the victim’s own relatives and/or community and unlike crimes of passion or rage-induced killings, usually planned in advance.

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I’m the West Coast representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. I was a political columnist for SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle online) from 2004-2008. I've written for the Algemeiner, Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Independent Journal Review, American Thinker, FrontPage Magazine, Jihad Watch, Family Security Matters, Accuracy In Media, Newsbusters, Israel National News, Jewish Press, J-The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, and many others.